Easy to Wed (1946)

109-110 mins | Romantic comedy | 25 July 1946

Director:

Edward Buzzell

Producer:

Jack Cummings

Cinematographer:

Harry Stradling

Editor:

Blanche Sewell

Production Designers:

Cedric Gibbons, Hans Peters

Production Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
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HISTORY

Working titles for this film were Libeled Lady and Early to Wed. A Nov 1944 HR news item noted that actor Frank Morgan was cast, but he did not appear in the final film. Pre-production news items in HR indicate that art director Merrill Pye and unit manager Jay Marchant completed the filming of backgrounds in Mexico City in late Nov 1944. According to a Jan 1946 HR news item, M-G-M decided not to include the song "I'm Gonna Fall in Love with You," which had been set for Van Johnson, due to concerns about audience reaction to Johnson's singing voice. Although the news item also reported that M-G-M had shelved plans to use the slogan "Van Johnson Sings" in its exploitation campaign, the picture does feature Johnson singing a duet with Esther Williams. According to an unidentified, but contemporary item in the file on the film in the AMPAS Library, Williams was to sing "Can't I Do Anything But Swim," a parody of "Everything Happens to Me," which was written by Harriet Lee, as well as "Guabina chinquinquirerna." Easy to Wed was a remake of the 1936 M-G-M picture Libeled Lady, directed by Jack Conway and starring Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.2474). Johnson and Williams recreated their roles for a Lux Radio Theatre version of the story, which was broadcast on 27 Feb 1950. ...

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Working titles for this film were Libeled Lady and Early to Wed. A Nov 1944 HR news item noted that actor Frank Morgan was cast, but he did not appear in the final film. Pre-production news items in HR indicate that art director Merrill Pye and unit manager Jay Marchant completed the filming of backgrounds in Mexico City in late Nov 1944. According to a Jan 1946 HR news item, M-G-M decided not to include the song "I'm Gonna Fall in Love with You," which had been set for Van Johnson, due to concerns about audience reaction to Johnson's singing voice. Although the news item also reported that M-G-M had shelved plans to use the slogan "Van Johnson Sings" in its exploitation campaign, the picture does feature Johnson singing a duet with Esther Williams. According to an unidentified, but contemporary item in the file on the film in the AMPAS Library, Williams was to sing "Can't I Do Anything But Swim," a parody of "Everything Happens to Me," which was written by Harriet Lee, as well as "Guabina chinquinquirerna." Easy to Wed was a remake of the 1936 M-G-M picture Libeled Lady, directed by Jack Conway and starring Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.2474). Johnson and Williams recreated their roles for a Lux Radio Theatre version of the story, which was broadcast on 27 Feb 1950.

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GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS
SOURCE CITATIONS
SOURCE
DATE
PAGE
Box Office
13 Apr 1946
---
Daily Variety
9 Apr 1946
p. 3
Film Daily
10 Apr 1946
p. 6
Hollywood Reporter
21 Nov 1944
p. 4
Hollywood Reporter
22 Nov 1944
p. 1
Hollywood Reporter
30 Nov 1944
p. 3
Hollywood Reporter
5 Dec 1944
p. 4
Hollywood Reporter
31 Jan 1945
p. 2
Hollywood Reporter
2 Feb 1945
p. 4, 12
Hollywood Reporter
9 Mar 1945
p. 4
Hollywood Reporter
28 Mar 1945
p. 3
Hollywood Reporter
22 Jun 1945
p. 14
Hollywood Reporter
25 Jan 1946
p. 12
Hollywood Reporter
9 Apr 1946
p. 3
Hollywood Reporter
15 Jul 1946
p. 6
Motion Picture Herald Product Digest
17 Mar 1945
p. 2366
Motion Picture Herald Product Digest
13 Apr 1946
p. 2937
New York Times
12 Jul 1946
p. 14
Variety
10 Apr 1946
p. 16
CAST
PRODUCTION CREDITS
NAME
PARENT COMPANY
DISTRIBUTION COMPANY
NAME
CREDITED AS
CREDIT
DIRECTORS
Herman Webber
Asst dir
PRODUCER
WRITERS
From the screenplay "Libeled Lady" by
From the screenplay "Libeled Lady" by
From the screenplay "Libeled Lady" by
PHOTOGRAPHY
Dir of photog
2d cam
ART DIRECTORS
Art dir
Art dir
Art dir
FILM EDITOR
Film ed
SET DECORATORS
Set dec
Assoc
COSTUMES
Cost supv
Men's cost
MUSIC
Mus score, supv and dir
Orch
SOUND
Rec dir
Unit mixer
Re-rec and eff mixer
Re-rec and eff mixer
Re-rec and eff mixer
Re-rec and eff mixer
Re-rec and eff mixer
Re-rec and eff mixer
Mus mixer
M. J. MacLaughlin
Mus mixer
VISUAL EFFECTS
Transparency projection shots
DANCE
Mus numbers staged and dir by
Asst dance dir
MAKEUP
Makeup created by
PRODUCTION MISC
Unit mgr
Unit mgr
Research dir
Research asst
Tech adv on swimming seq
STAND INS
Singing voice double for Lucille Ball
COLOR PERSONNEL
Technicolor col dir
Assoc
SOURCES
MUSIC
"Toca tu samba" by Raul Soler.
SONGS
"Vive Mexico," music and lyrics by Pedro Galindo; "Acercate mas," music and lyrics by Osvaldo Farres; "The Continental Polka," music and lyrics by Ralph Blane and Johnny Green; "Boneca de Pixe," music and lyrics by Ary Barroso.
SONGWRITERS/COMPOSERS
+
DETAILS
Alternate Titles:
Early to Wed
Libeled Lady
Release Date:
25 July 1946
Premiere Information:
New York opening: 11 Jul 1946
Production Date:
1 Feb--late Jun 1945
Copyright Info
Claimant
Date
Copyright Number
Loew's Inc.
12 March 1946
LP158
Physical Properties:
Sound
Western Electric Sound System
Color
Technicolor
Duration(in mins):
109-110
Country:
United States
PCA No:
11111
Passed by NBR:
Yes
SYNOPSIS

When his newspaper, The Morning Star , accidentally prints a libelous story about Connie Allenbury, the daughter of financial tycoon J. B. Allenbury, Farwood knows that he is in trouble. Infuriated by the newspaper's accusation that his daughter stole a woman's husband, Allenbury vows to file a $2,000,000 libel suit against the paper. Farwood, hoping to save his newspaper from ruin, calls on his business manager, Warren Haggerty, for help. Warren, who is engaged to marry Gladys Benton, calls off his wedding and quickly devises a plan to prevent the suit from advancing. The plan, which is to frame Connie as a co-respondent in a staged wife-stealing scheme, is initiated when Warren hires a former reporter at the newspaper, Bill Stevens Chandler, and prepares to send him to Mexico City, where the Allenburys are vacationing. Then, after assuring her that he will marry her as soon as he finishes his business with the Allenburys, Warren persuades Gladys to temporarily marry Bill in name only so that he can sue him for alienation of affection when a photograph of Bill and Connie is produced. Gladys and Bill are quickly married by a justice of the peace. Bill, accompanied by Warren's friend Spike, goes to Mexico, where he follows the Allenburys and takes a crash course in hunting, which is Allenbury's favorite hobby. At the Hotel Del Rey, Bill endears himself to Connie when he protects her from the unwanted attentions of Spike. Bill later introduces himself to Connie and her father as a writer and a hunting enthusiast. Allenbury quickly befriends Bill and sets a date for a duck hunting expedition. Days pass, and ...

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When his newspaper, The Morning Star , accidentally prints a libelous story about Connie Allenbury, the daughter of financial tycoon J. B. Allenbury, Farwood knows that he is in trouble. Infuriated by the newspaper's accusation that his daughter stole a woman's husband, Allenbury vows to file a $2,000,000 libel suit against the paper. Farwood, hoping to save his newspaper from ruin, calls on his business manager, Warren Haggerty, for help. Warren, who is engaged to marry Gladys Benton, calls off his wedding and quickly devises a plan to prevent the suit from advancing. The plan, which is to frame Connie as a co-respondent in a staged wife-stealing scheme, is initiated when Warren hires a former reporter at the newspaper, Bill Stevens Chandler, and prepares to send him to Mexico City, where the Allenburys are vacationing. Then, after assuring her that he will marry her as soon as he finishes his business with the Allenburys, Warren persuades Gladys to temporarily marry Bill in name only so that he can sue him for alienation of affection when a photograph of Bill and Connie is produced. Gladys and Bill are quickly married by a justice of the peace. Bill, accompanied by Warren's friend Spike, goes to Mexico, where he follows the Allenburys and takes a crash course in hunting, which is Allenbury's favorite hobby. At the Hotel Del Rey, Bill endears himself to Connie when he protects her from the unwanted attentions of Spike. Bill later introduces himself to Connie and her father as a writer and a hunting enthusiast. Allenbury quickly befriends Bill and sets a date for a duck hunting expedition. Days pass, and Gladys and Warren get impatient with Bill, who has not yet produced a picture of himself with Connie. Connie eventually realizes that Bill is faking his duck hunting experience when he arrives at the hunting grounds sporting brand new equipment. Bill and the Allenburys split into two boats for the hunt, and Bill is frustrated by his failure to shoot down a single duck. After hours of waiting in the boat with no success, a flock of ducks flies overhead, and, as Bill struggles with his rifle, a shot is accidentally fired into the air. The bullet strikes a duck, which falls from the sky and lands on Bill's head. Allenbury and Connie are impressed by the catch, and later serve the duck for dinner. A romance soon blossoms between Bill and Connie, but Bill, fearing that Gladys is getting impatient and is planning to expose him, stalls for time by feigning romantic interest in her. Suspecting that Bill is romancing Gladys, Warren decides to visit Connie and try to persuade her to drop the suit. After Connie refuses Warren's request, Warren telephones Gladys and tells her that Bill is romantically involved with Connie. Gladys, who believes she is in love with Bill, then goes to the Allenbury estate and tells Allenbury that Bill is her husband. Allenbury is shocked by the news and tells Connie, who tests Bill by asking him to marry her immediately. Bill consents, and they are married by a justice of the peace. Warren and Gladys threaten to expose Bill as a bigamist, but Bill prevents them from doing so by telling Gladys that he has learned that she is still legally married to a man named Joseph Simpson, and that her mail-order divorce was nullified. Gladys surprises Bill, though, when she tells him that she knows about the nullification and that she later got a legal divorce in Reno. All ends happily, though, when the Allenburys drop their suit, and when Gladys and Warren realize that they are truly meant for each other.

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Legend
Viewed by AFI
Partially Viewed
Offscreen Credit
Name Occurs Before Title
AFI Life Achievement Award

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The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.